Motor for gas-meters



L. RASCH.

MOTOR FOR GAS METERS. APPLlc/mou mso use zs. 1916 neuswzn ocr. 19. 191s.

1,355,165. Pa'tn'ted Oct. 12, 1920.

wu/ENTOR By torneys,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS RASCH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO JOSEPH REBI-IOLZ ANI) ONE-TENTH TO FRED J. SCHILL, BOTH OF BAYSHORE, NEW YORK, AND ONEI- FOURTH TO A.. SCHRADERS SON, INCORPORATED, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A.

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MOTOR FOR GAS-METERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

Application led December 26, 1916, Serial No. 138,703. Renewed October 19, 1918. Serial No. 258,910.

T 0 all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Louis Ii-Asci-I, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, (having declared his intention of becoming a citizen o'f the United States of America,) residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Motors for Gas-Meters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to that form of gas meter in which a rotary fan or impact-wheel operates the indicating registering or recording mechanism. It is peculiarly adapted for operating the means for indicating either the value or the quantity of gas consumed. Another object of the invention is to provide a meter of small size which is capable of indicating the passage of a very small amount of gas as well as being able to also accurately record the passage of a larger amount of gas.

According to this invention the gas driven wheel or fan is so disposed in the gas p assage that the power of the gas in blowing past the fan is utilized practically .to its full extent in causing a rotary motion o1" the fan. For this purpose the line oif passage of the gas is preferably tangential to the periphery of the fan wheel. It is also desirable to have the cross section of the gas passage substantially conterminous with the area of the vanes of the wheel.

In the drawings accompanying this ap plication I have illustrated my invention, in which drawings- Figure 1 is an elevational view partly in vertical longitudinal section ot a practicable embodiment of the invention; this view is drawn on an enlarged scale from a commercial form of the meter.

Fig. 2 is a plan partly in elevation and partly in horizontal` section ot the meter shown in Fig. 1; the plane on which the sectional parts are taken being indicated by the line 2-2 in Fig. 1, looking upwardly or in the direction of the arrows at such line.

Fig. 3 is a detail of a part of the fan cas ing removed.

Fig.v 4 isa view similar to'Fig. 1 on. a reduced scale, however. showing a different form of fan construction.

Fig. 5 is a detail of a broken away portion of a modified form of fan casing.

Referring particularly to the form of meter illustrated in the drawings, the reference character 7 indicates the casing of the meter which is preferably a casting. On one end of this casing` the indicating or registeringmechanism is preferably mounted. The details of such mechanism forming no part of the present invention, these portions are shown in dotted lines, with the exception, however, ot' the driving connections between the registering mechanism and the spindle of the fan wheel. The spindle 8 is shown carrying the fan wheel and also provided with a worm 9 meshing with a worm wheel 10 associated with the train of the registering mechanism. The spindle is shown mountedin a horizontal position and supported on jewel bearings 11. There is shown fast on this spindle a fan wheel which in the present illustration is formed of sheet metal and has a central disk portion 12 secured in some suitable manner, as for instance by means of screws, to a hub 13 'formed on the spindle 8. The blades or vanes 14 are shown formed integrally with the central disk 12 and bent into position obliquelyto their aXis of rotationand to the plane oi' the central disk 12. In the form of tan illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the faces of the blades are shown disposed radially ci the wheel, that is the central line of each blade will coincide with the radius of the disk 1 2.

The inlet passage is shown at 15 and the gas outlet passage at 16. The present illustration shows the passages of the inlet and the outlet substantially in alinement and disposed horizontally and located above the horizontal axis of the impact wheel or tan. The wheely is shown located in a chamber in communication with both of these passages. the walls of such chamber being so formed that thev closely conform to the contour of the blades. In the present illustration the neripheralwall 17,01? such chamber is provided, in the formof a ring fitting into the'casing'? such ring is shown formed integrally with a plate 1.8 whicli affords the wall. of the chamber at one side of the fan, the wall of the chamber at the other side of Y given a retrograde Y movement.

gas shall at all times be capable of acting:

instantaneously upon the most adjacent blade'surfacc and force this blade in thev proper direction. The gas inlet to the chamber may with advantage be disposed 'for cooperation with the obliquely disposedV blades. The ring 17 serves as a convenient means of forming ports or passagewaysto the fan wheel chamber in a manner to properly act upon the vanes or blades oi this wheel. In Fig. 1 the inlet port is shown formed of three separate openings indicated by the reference character Y20 Each of these openii'igs` in the present illustration is disposed parallel with the general direction of gas How, These openings have some suit able forimpreferably heilig in the form of slots extending across the ring parallel with the axis of rotation, see Fig. 3. It will be seen that some portion of a'blade surface is always in position to be acted upon by a portion at least of the in-lowing gas and that it will be impossible for a blade to become so locatedtin relation to thejinlet port that the fan wheel will be held stationary or These diliculties are frequently encountered in connection with meters in which a small flow of gas is to be registered and linzwhich the flow is intermittent.

The outlet port 21 through the ring 17 is shownrin the form of a single opening of larger area than the combined areasof the openings 20.

Ini some instances it has beenl'found desirable to increase theinlet port, but, nevertheless. keep it ofsmaller area than the inlet 15. In this case some suitable form of opening is provided, having due regard for the j form of the blades, a single opening 20 being illustrated in the ring 17 in Fig. 5.

It is quite desirable in metersof this char-V acter that the tendency of the gas is not onl in a straightv line tangentially of the whee but that the blades should not interfere'with thisV tendencyof gas movement, as is-thev case in some constructions of meter, and

cause the gas, or portions of it, to move tothe gas receiving facev26 of 'each of these blades being disposedV in such position rela;

tive' tolthe flow of gas throughrthe ports 27 that theline of gas movement is never at an angle greater than 90 with such face,

sures a positive anmove'mentfwithout any danger of stoppage or back` movement; it also assures that? eddy currents beV not formed at: the center of thewheel andi that those portions of the gas having a tendency to leave the straight line of gas movement are thrown toward the periphery of the wheelV and traverse the arch 29 and readily find exit at the outlet port 28.

It is to be understood thatthe mechanisms shown in the accompanying drawings are illustrative of my` invention and that changes may be made as voccasion demands within thescope of the claims Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It is an important feature of myV invention, and one to which its success as a practical gas meter is largelyl attributable, that the fan wheel or metering element-is so related to its chamber and to the gas linlet and outlet passages, that however small or large be the flow of gas, practically no gas passing through the meter can escape past the wheel without impressing upon the latter a rate of movementrproportional to the volume of flow; to which end it is essential that the chamber shall closely embrace and conform to the fanwheel, so that none of they present application contains, or isvidentical with, that set 'forth in my British Patent No.l 21,375,dated 22 September, 1913, the present application is a continuation of my application' for United States Patent filed September 21, 1914, Serial No. 862,858, which application was based upon-the application for said British patent.

What I claim is 1. In a gas meter, a casing forming acircular chamber having anfannular portion and tangential inlet and outlet openings communicating therewith, and an impact wheel mounted to turn fin said chamber, comprising a central disk and symmetrical blades projecting therefrom, said blades being widest at their outer sides andbecoming thence narrowerA toward their junction with the disk, the wheelbeing of minimuminertia and mounted delicately on a substantially frictionless pivotal mounting wholly within said casingand the annular chamber inclosing said wheel and conforming thereto so that the blades move therein with slight` clearance, said inlet and'outlet openings directing a flow of gas tangentially through said chamber, and said blades receiving the impact of such flow to turn the Wheel, Whereby the Wheel is adapted to vary its rate of rotation in direct relation to variations in flow.

2. In a gas meter, a casing forming a circular chamber having an annular portion and tangential inlet and outlet openings communicating therewith, and an impact Wheel mounted to turn in said chamber, comprising a central disk and symmetrical blades projecting therefrom, said blades of an outline approximately conforming to said annular chamber and movable therein With slight clearance, the casing comprising a main casing, a lining casing therein, and a removable head, said lining casing and head being relatively conformed to constitute the circular chamber with its annular portion.

3. In a gas meter, a casing forming a circular chamber having an annular portion and tangential inlet and outlet openings communicating therewith, and an impact wheel mounted to turn in said chamber, comprising a central disk and symmetrical blades projecting therefrom, said blades of an outline approximately conforming to said annular chamber and movable therein with slight clearance, the casing comprising a main casing, a lining casing therein, comprising a disk portion and a cylindricallyflanged portion, the outer casing'having an enlargement in which such cylindricallyflanged portion ts, and a removable head, said lining casing and head being relatively conformed to constitute the circular chamber with its annular portion, and said inlet and outlet openings formed through said flanged portion.

4. In a gas meter, a revolving impact Wheel and a casing formed With a chamber closely inclosing and conforming to such wheel, the periphery of such chamber being formed of a partition plate distinct from the casing, the meter having gas inlet and outlet openings formed through such partition plate and located to cause a flow of gas through such chamber tangentially to the -path of the blades of said Wheel.

5. In a gas meter according to claim 4, the gas inlet subdivided into a plurality of openings formed through such partition plate, adapted to direct successive streams of gas tangentially against the blades of said Wheel.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto si ed my name in the presence of a subscri ing Witness.

LOUIS RASCH. Witness:

CHAs. LYON RUSSELL. 

